Stars in My Sky
by an-bananie227
Summary: Son of a billionaire, Percy Jackson, is a twenty year old hottie whose life is perfectly content. He gets all the girls he can get and never had any real responsibility in his life. But when his father forces him into the army, his world is turned upside down. Except when he gets there, he stumbles upon a blonde beauty who won't give him the light of day.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Percy's POV

"WHAT?!" I sat there, flabbergasted. I looked at his eyes incredulously. "No WAY in Hell am I going to the army!"

My father glared down at me with piercing green eyes. Goodness, he could be intimidating sometimes. I tried to look as intimidating as him. But it was a little hard considering I was dressed like a typical rich player with my white tailored slacks and a tan polo with a light pink cardigan tied around my shoulders. Pink is a manly color, okay?

I had on expensive leather brown loafers personally made in by a renowned shoemaker in France— Gautier Astor Delacriox ( I know I even remembered his name). They had my initials imprinted on the soles of my feet. Square framed sunglasses hung from the middle collar of my polo and a silver X edition wristwatch decorated my wrist.

So I was a twenty year old spoiled, good for nothing billionaires son. I mean even I knew it. But he can't just ship me off to the military, just because of that. I have my rights.

"You'r going whether you like it or not." He said in his sternest voice. His mustache moved whenever he talked and covered his whole mouth. I tried not to laugh, it was pretty funny— but I was still mad.

"And you pick now to torture me, because—?" I waited for him to fill in the blank.

He folded his burly arms over his burly— and might I add hairy— chest.

"I heard you cheated on Rachel right after sleeping with her and leaving her in a hotel. I mean seriously Percy, why do you keep trying to ruin my reputation here. Rachel's father is a very important business partner of mine and now our deal is off! You are going to have to pay for the damages done to the family company and take responsibility for ONCE in your LIFE!"

I groaned like a normal teenager would.

But there was nothing I could do, because the next thing I knew I was on a plane flying to my dream vacation. Oh joy.

Luckily I had my best friends, Nico, Grover, and Jason with me. Apparently their parents thought my dad's idea was brilliant and sent them to the army too.

Boy do they hate me right now, which I found amusing.

We landed in the Florida airport and some guy with sunglasses and army clothes gave us a ride to wherever this goddamned hell hole of a place was. We had to get to this place in a boat so I guessed the military base was on some island.

The boat arrived at the docks. It seemed like an island that could have been a nice place for a resort. Yet, in reality, it had this hexagonal shaped building that perimetered the island. Me and my friends followed the man, who I didn't even know the name of yet, through the entrance. I immediately felt out of place in my expensive, bright( Cough pink Cough )clothing. I slung my pack over my shoulder as I saw soldiers fighting and sparring each other in the open areas of the big hexagon. Only the perimeter of the hexagon was made up of buildings. The inside was open spaced. There were I don't know how many training grounds. Well, now I know for a fact that I'm going to love it here.

Burly looking guys eyed us as we walked past. Some smirked, some just stared. It was very disconcerting and well rude.

"Those are the soldier's barracks where you guys will be sleeping." The man pointed to the buildings on the right side of us. He then pointed to his left. "Those are the officers' quarters. You will get an official tour tomorrow. Beckendorf will tell you more about morning calls and bunk rules."

And with that the man left. Wow, I feel welcomed.

"Huh? Whose this Beckendork?" Nico asked.

"It's BeckendorF." We heard a voice say behind us.

We all turned to see a strongly built dude who had brown hair and a rough complexion. His eyes were caring though and light stubble grazed his jaw. He had closely cropped hair as did many of the soldiers that I saw coming in here.

Aw, do I have to cut mine? I like my messy hair.

"I'm Charles Beckendorf. But people just call me by my last name and I am your commanding officer. So if you guys want to have a place to rest your pretty little heads, I suggest you follow my orders and listen carefully." He said gruffly.

Well, everyone here, just seems so nice.

He led us into the barracks. There were bunk beds lining the sides of the walls. Other than that, there were some side tables and such, not much.

Beckendorf led us to the end of the walkway. "These are your beds" He said, pointing to the beds that had uniforms folded on each bunk. "And those are your uniforms. You are not allowed to not wear them ever, only on your break times which are very few, so I would say goodbye to your rich boy clothes. Morning calls are at 5 00 sharp. By 5 30 you all have to get ready and changed. I will not tolerate tardiness. Are we understood?"

"Yeah." I said.

"You will always answer, with a 'yes, sir', SO ARE WE UNDERSTOOD?!"

"God, you're so freaking loud." I said sticking a finger into my ear, "yes sir, we get it."

Beckendorf looked pissed. He suddenly had his forearm on my chest and he smashed me easily against the wall.

"I know you're type, Jackson. So full of themselves and don't know their place. But you stand one inch out of line again and I will have your pretty face smashed to the floor and kicked to kingdom come. Now— are we understood."

I paused a moment, wanting to retaliate, but BEckendorf didn't seem like a guy I wanted to push,

"Yessir." I said quietly.

Cross out the part where I said his eyes were caring.

"Good, you will have sparring tests tomorrow, to show us your abilities as new recruits. I would suggest you to prepare yourselves. Now get some sleep. You're going to need it."

And with that he stalked off with his boots clanging on the metal floor.

"Well, he's nice" Jason said.

"Yeah, he does seem like a nice guy." Grover said.

Nico went to his bunk and changed into the uniform. It looked funny on him. I'm so used to him wearing his usual fitted jeans and rich expensive suits.

After we all changed into our green camouflaged uniforms, the other soldiers came barging in for the day.

And boy did they look exhausted. AS they did before, some smirked and others just stared— collapsing on their beds.

Oh my gods, didn't they even shower?

An asian boy who looked about our age and had a strong, squarish frame walked over to us.

"So, you spoiled newbies, I bet you won't last a day here away from your daddys' money."

"You're right we won't. We'd be happy to get out of this place." I said flatly.

The guy squinted his eyes at me. "Watch your tone newbie."

And with that, he walked off to his designated bunk.

"Don't mind him, he's just jealous of privileged kids." A boy said from an upper bunk.

He jumped down to greet us and held out his hand.

"The name's Travis Stoll. And that's Connor Stoll, my twin." He pointed to an identical clone of himself.

"Nice to meet you, Stolls, I'm Nico, this is Percy, and that's Grover and Jason." Nico said.

"Cool. I would get some rest. All newbies have to go through their first sparring test."

"What is that, anyways?" Jason asked.

"Oh you'll find out tomorrow. If we told you, that would ruin the whole point." Connor said.

"Well, if you're not going to tell us, I'm going to sleep." I said, climbing on my bunk.

The others followed my example.

As I lay in bed, I thought about this test we had to go through. It wasn't like I would be totally helpless. I swam in my free time and my dad had forced me to learn fencing. I should say, I'm a wicked good swordsman. Not that that could help me much. We were probably using our hands and guns, not swords.

Great, can't wait for tomorrow.

I soon fell asleep to the sounds of loud snoring.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Percy's POV

The first thing I heard was Beckendorf's deafening loud voice blaring like a siren shaking the barracks. Like seriously, the guys seems composed and calm on the outside, but he could really belt, when he wanted.

He barked out, yelling at all of us to get out of bed.

Ugh, the sun wasn't even out yet.

I scrambled to get ready, depressed that I didn't even get my full beauty sleep.

Hey, how do you think I get my wickedly handsome good looks.

Anyways, we were all lined up by 5 30 as Beckendorf stalked down the line, yelling attendance.

"Nakamura!"

"Yessir" Said the asian bastard who bashed on us last night.

"Grace!"

"Yessir" JAson said

"Underwood!"

"Yessir" Grover said.

"Jackson"

"Yessir" I said in an annoyed voice.

Beckendorf shot me a threatening look, but then continued.

"Di Angelo!"

No answer. Now that I thought about it, where was Nico?

I looked up to see his sleeping body lazily snoring on his bed. Oh gods.

Beckendorf calmly went up and blared a horn in his ear.

Nico jumped up with his hair all standing up on end. He looked really freaked and it took all that was in me to not laugh out loud.

"Di Angelo! Tardy! You have Bathroom duty tonight!"

Beckendorf yelled.

Nico groaned and stood in line with the rest of us, still groggy.

"Alright, everybody go to your commanding officer and start your duties for today. Newbies, with me!"

Everybody filed out and we followed Beckendorf out of the bunks.

"You guys are going to be in your very first sparring tournament. Just do your best. We aren't expecting much since your new."

He led us outside where there were many fights going on in rings that were marked only by these round stones.

"These are training rings. Two people can just go in and spar together, whenever they want." Beckendorf explained.

He led us to a training ring which had cheering crowds watching the fight. It looked to be one person fighting ten people. Wow, no wonder there was such an audience. As we got closer, I noticed the one person was

— a girl.

A gorgeous girl at that.

OH MY GODS IT'S A GIRL! MAYBE MY LIFE HERE WON'T SUCK AFTER ALL.

She had her honey blonde golden hair tied up in a high pony tail. Her ponytail of curls swung back and forth as she fought back the men and was keeping her ground with great agility. In three seconds, she had flung knives with expert ease, pinning three guys to the ground. The last seven came on her as she hook kicked a guy and made enough space for her to go swiftly into a handstand and jump to grab another guys neck with her legs with her hands still on the ground. She pulled with her legs with incredible strength and flung the guy down behind her, knocking out a second guy with the attack.

And you know in karate fighting movies where the masters curl up on the ground and thrust their legs up and jump to a standing position from lying down. Yeah, she did one of those— a kick up, very gracefully I might add.

She was on her feet in a blink of an eye and instantly flipped in the air using mad gymnast skills, kicking a guy in the face while doing so. Damn, this girl was light on her feet.

Seven strong looking guys lay sprawled in fetal positions, holding their injuries or were just knocked out.

The last three looked scared. The girl just smirked and that made them angry so they charged at her all at once— a big mistake on their part.

She came at the first guy drilling what seemed to be a hundred punches into his chest and swiping his feet from under him with a quick movement of her leg and ducked just in time to dodge the seconds guys' strike. Her palm immediately met his nose, letting us hear a satisfying crack and we watched as she jumped high and kicked first with her left to the guys stomach which boasted her up higher, then kicked with her right forceful and swift into the guy's poor head.

The guy seemed to be flung to the other side of the ring from the blow. She spun around pushing through with her kick with graceful ease.

Only one guy standing. Her back was to him as he grabbed her from behind, disabling her arms from being able to move— or so I thought. In a second, she had hammered his groin with a quick movement of her forearm and while he was bent forward holding his crotch, she kneed him in the head hard making his head fling back and fall on his back with a slam. She deftly jumped onto his chest and punched him in the face, knocking him out.

The crowd of soldiers was going wild, wolf whistling, yelling like crazy.

The girl then stood up and calmly walked out of the ring, leaving ten men sprawling in pain behind her.

I felt my mouth gaping open as did my other friends. Beckendorf grinned with admiration, "And that my friends, was Annabeth Chase, chief lieutenant of the army. I wouldn't get her mad if I were you."

"Hot damn." Nico said.

"You got that right." I said.

"Amazing." Jason said.

"I wish I could fight that sexily" Grover said.

We all gave him a weird look.

I watched as the lieutenant walked over to us with a towel slung over her shoulders and a water bottle in her hand, which she took a swig of.

"Holy shit" I said as she stopped right in front of us.

I could looked her up and down— checking her out.

She wore black pants with knife slot belts wrapped around her slender looking, toned thighs. The pants were attached to a top uniform which she had zipped down to her mesmerizing waists and let it hang around her lower body, exposing her tight white cami. I could see her perfect curves clearly. Sweat beaded her forehead and I saw that she had the prettiest pink lips I had ever seen. Her grey stormy eyes were stunning and radiant. They exuded an almost beautiful intelligence that made me so instantly intrigued. I had never seen such startling grey beautiful eyes.

Her grey orbs glanced from me to each of my friends, mostly at me— which I didn't mind. Man, I just wanted to put my fingers through those soft looking curls…

Gods, what was wrong with me?

You see, I have seen and met a ton of girls in my past. Never have I seen such eyes that could be so beautiful and yet so intimidating.

"So Beckendorf, these the newbies?" She said with a voice that sounded like bells in my ears.

"Yes ma'am" He said, bowing his head a bit in respect.

She looked more carefully at each and every one of us and stopped her gaze at me, narrowing her eyes, making my nerves stand on end and my belly to flop inside out.

"You! name!" She said. I saw that she was asking me.

"Jackson, ma'am. Percy Jackson." I winked at her and her brows raised a bit.

"Percy, get in the ring." She was the first to actually address me by my first name. I felt special inside.

She then turned to Beckendorf, "You don't mind if I watch their first sparring tournament do you?"

"No, not at all, Ma'am. In fact it would be an honor for you to do so."

Wow, they treated her like a princess or something.

Her intense eyes darted to me, "Why aren't you in the ring, yet?" She asked in a quiet but dangerous manner.

"Oh, sorry, babe." I said grinning at her with my smile that usually would make other girls swoon.

Her face didn't change at all.

"Watch it, Jackson, or you'll have a gun stuck up your ass."

Wow, a heart of stone.

I walked into the ring and looked back at her, still smiling as my usual flirty self.

Hey, give me a break— finding out there was a girl here, was a godsend gift.

"Yew! In the ring with Jackson!" Beckendorf yelled.

Annabeth had her arms crossed over her chest— damn she's so f #$ing hot.

Her eyes locked with mine. Grey on green. She rolled her eyes.

I smirked and watched as my opponent walked into the ring.

Okay, I don't think I'm ready for this.

This Yew guy was— well— buff. Really buff.

I had more of a swimmer'd body— broad shoulders and toned arms.

But this guy was ripped. Okkkaayy. I'm not scared at all.

I held up my hands, in a defensive position, "Okay man, look, take it easy on me ok— woah!"

Before I could finish my sentence, he had swung a fierce blow at my head, which I ducked— thankfully— in time.

He swung heavily again which I dodged again as quickly as I could. I held up my hands, laughing nervously, "Look man, you need to chill—"

He swung and swung and swung at my face. I realized then.

What did I have that this guy didn't?

Speed.

This guy was just swinging his arm hoping to get a strike in with no real plan of action. If he did manage to hit me, my face would pay greatly— and I definitely didn't want that.

When he swung again, I ducked and threw in a quick jab up to his elbow. I heard a crack.

Yew screamed with pain and held his arm. I took the opportunity to give him a blow across the face, with as much force as I could muster.

And he was down— just like that.

I was pretty amazed with myself.

Yew was helped to the infirmary and I walked out of the ring.

Annabeth's eyes looked sternly at me, but I could see a certain sparkle behind the grey coldness of her eyes.

Beckendorf was smiling, "Nice, Jackson. For a Newbie you fight well."

My friends clapped me on the back.

My friends all got their turn. Jason beat his opponent almost as easily as I did. Nico and Grover took longer, but they also eventually beat their opponents as well.

Nico got a black eye though.

It was then lunch time. And we walked into the cafeteria. I sat with my friends and started eating my mashed potatoes. Scanning the room, I instantly saw Annabeth eating and laughing with a girl who had jet black hair and electric blue eyes— who looked hella badass. There was also a beautiful cherokee girl who kept looking at Jason. Jason was returning the looks.

Wait— THERE WERE OTHER GIRLS?!

Oh my god, maybe this place wouldn't be that bad after all.

Beckendorf came to sit with us.

When he wasn't barking orders at us, he was a pretty chill guy.

After eating a while, I saw a blonde haired guy with a scar down his face come into the room. He had mischievous blue eyes and held a pompous air about him. I instantly hated him. When he walked in, the guards at either end saluted him.

"Lieutenant!" They saluted.

He nodded to them and walked towards where the blonde beauty was sitting.

Oh don't tell me.

He came near Annabeth and rested his hands on her waist. She looked up and smiled at him.

She looked so much better smiling.

But wait— were they dating?!

No they couldn't.

"Hey Beckendorf, are they like together?" I asked.

"Uh, no they aren't, now. They used to, though."

I smiled at that, that's exactly what I wanted to hear. "Good to know." I said.

I walked over to where Annabeth was sitting, ignoring the looks I was getting.

I leaned my hand on the table next to her and put on my flirty ways.

"So Annabeth, you want to take a dip in the water some time with me? I'd love to see you all wet." I said in a smug voice, looking down at her— mostly her body.

Silence filled the room. I heard whispers of "Oh god, no he didn't", "Hell, no newbie has ever talked to Annabeth like that" and "Damn he's in for it."

The black haired girl and her cherokee friends tried to stifle their laughs. And the blonde guy just glared at me and said,

"Hey, newbie who do you think you're talking to—" he started out, but Annabeth held a hand to his chest, stopping him.

She looked at me with her stunning grey eyes, making me get absorbed again.

I suddenly felt the collar of my shirt grabbed fiercely and yanked down so that my face slammed hard onto the table.

Her hand was on the side of my face. Her hand may be soft and feminine looking, but they sure were strong.

She leaned down so that her mouth was close to my ear as I struggled under her death grip.

"Look, Jackson, you may think that you own the whole base, now, since you beat a guy in record time for a newbie, but you better listen very closely to me. I. am. you're. superior. Disrespect me again and your cheating rich ass will go die in a hole, cuz I don't give two shits if you're rich daddy is going to sue me for rearranging the face of his precious son. Are we understood?" The last sentence she said almost sweetly, making the threat even more intimidating.

But somehow, I found it ridiculously attractive that this girl threatened me. No girl has ever done that. Usually they would just throw their arms around me and let me do whatever I wanted.

Damn, this girl was getting to me.

"Yeah, we're clear." I said, wincing with my head still smushed.

She let go and my head was free from kissing the table.

I still smiled at her and she looked taken back, that I was grinning when I had just been threatened to lose my beautiful face.

Her eyes gave me a cold stare.

And I must admit, it almost chilled my heart.

**Author's Note:**

**Thanks for reading! Reviews are greatly appreciated C:**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Annabeth's POV

What is with that black haired green eyed creep? And why the hell does he smile at me all the time?

I mean seriously does he have some mental disorder?

I walked through the open areas of the base. The base actually had parks. They weren't big parks, but they were still something. I always loved to open a book and read after a good fight.

I know, me and my normal life. My usual day included beating people up then reading somewhere quiet.

Just a normal girl, I swear.

I walked over to a green wooden bench and pulled out a book. Now, it probably looked strange since I was in my black combat clothes. But no one bothered me about it or told me not to read. I mean, nobody exactly could, me being a lieutenant that is.

Unfortunately I couldn't get my focus towards the book I was reading.

My head was occupied by a certain green eyed asshole who had outwardly flirted with me in front of everyone.

I must admit, he was insanely gorgeous and was what a normal girl would swoon over. But I could totally tell, he was a cheating ass of a player, son of a billionaire, and a spoiled little bastard.

Trust me, you wouldn't ever see me with something like that. I hated those rich bastards who were cocky and selfish to the bare bone. They weren't responsible for anything.

And Percy Jackson meets all of the above.

I watched from my bench as I saw the soldiers training. This place was my home, really. I was trained and raised here. My dad, let's just say, is pretty high in military ranking, so I got to train from the best. Been trained my whole life. And it wasn't like I was totally excluded from the outside world. Me and my friends would sometimes go out into the city and shop for clothes other than our black combat uniforms.

Thalia was an orphan when my dad found her. He raised her like his own and she became sort of my second in command. Piper worked in the media tech booth where she communicated with other bases for information about enemy intel and stuff like that. She actually was here for her career.

As for me, I liked being a lieutenant. So I never thought of doing anything else. Well, I have thought about being an architect. I love architecture, but my dad would want me here though.

I looked up and saw Beckendorf training his newbies.

Percy was there doing pushups and sit-ups at Beckendorf's whistles.

Honestly, his build was pretty strong and he had a swimmer's body, so his broad shoulders rested on a just rightly sized waist. His toned muscles could be seen from underneath his form fitting t shirt. And he had the messiest raven black hair ever, but it somehow suited his face. His sea green eyes were what strikes me though.

They were— well— beautiful I guess.

Gods, why was I checking out a guy I didn't even know? A guy I didn't even want to know.

I set down my book and walked over to the shooting range to intimidate some soldiers with my badass skills.

The guns were already there as I picked one up, put my safety glasses and earplugs in. I put my finger over the trigger with my hand supporting the bottom of the gun as I shot, over and over again— the recoil burning my arms, but also invigorating me.

After a while, I heard a faded voice. I stopped shooting and turned, taking out the plugs from my ears.

Standing there was Percy Jackson, the guy that I was just thinking about— not in any romantic way, of course.

I put my hand on my hip and simply glared, "What do you want?"

"Just to apologize for my flirting earlier. I was out of line, but I couldn't help not saying anything to a beautiful girl like you. Will you forgive me? Annie?"

His eyes sparkled with hope.

I let out a breathe loudly, "Fine."

A soldier brought me the dummy I was shooting. Percy's eyes widened seeing the bullet holes that had shot through the bulls eye perfectly every single time.

"Here, it's a gift." I said handing him the dummy— more like throwing at him, "Oh and by the way," I said before walking away from him, "This dummy will be you, if you call me Annie again." I said again.

"Damn." Percy said smirking as I walked out of the shooting range.

Why the hell does he have to smile at everything?

He strangely followed me out and stood dangerously close to me. I turned to him abruptly.

"What the hell do you want? I already forgave you." I said exasperatedly.

"Just tell me one thing about yourself. Then I'll leave— Ma'am." He said smiling.

I looked at him weird.

"And why would I do that?"

"Because I asked nicely?" He said sweetly.

I scoffed lightly, smiling a bit— a LITTLE bit— at his stupidity.

He smiled back fascinated that he got me to smile.

I immediately erased the smile on my face.

"I would have been an architecture major if I wasn't a lieutenant in the army."

He smiled back, "See, now we're getting somewhere. So, how many guys have you dated?"

I glared fiercely at his nerve to talk further, "I thought you said one thing. And shouldn't you be training right now, Jackson!?"

"Beck gave me a break." Holding his hands up in defense.

"I'm starting to think he's too easy on you. I'm taking over. I'll tell him about the change, don't worry." I said.

"Wha?" He said as I grabbed him by the collar and dragged him over to a training ring. I walked inside with him and stepped two feet away from him.

"Fight me" I said.

"Uh-uh. no way." He said shaking his head.

I squinted my eyes. I walked over closer to him and grabbed him by the collar (something, I seemed to be doing a lot lately).

"That was an order, if you hadn't noticed, you seaweed brain." My face was inches from his. Honestly, his lips looked unbelievably delicious. But to hell with that. I'm not going to be swooning over him like some wimpy ass piece of bitchy shit.

His hot breathe breathed on my face as he answered with that annoying smirk of his.

His nicely knit eyebrows raised up, "Seaweed Brain?"

It was my turn to smirk, "I'll come up with something worse, if you don't do as I say. " It wasn't the greatest threat, but my death glare got him to go into a fighting position.

His hands weren't blocking his stomach, so I jabbed him quickly in the stomach— I've got to admit, it's a great stress reliever. He makes a great punching bag. I'm going to enjoy training him.

He held his stomach and bent over, coughing, cursing.

"What the—? Why in the world—?" He said, along with a stream of curses.

I just stood there in front of him with a hand on my hip, "Don't just block your pretty face, you have to guard your stomach as well." I said flatly.

He looked up at me still heaving from the blow I gave him.

"I would just suck it up and try to punch me, again." I said, snapping at him.

His brows raised and he grinned showing his pearly whites. "Feisty, aren't you."

I gave him an incredulous look, how dare he? This little—

"What?!"

"It's just, I haven't met a girl who actually punched me that hard-or at all for that matter."

I gave him an exaggerated frown. "Seriously? You're thinking of girls, right now? You're supposed to be concentrating on your opponent, idiot seaweed brain."

"Now that, won't be a problem."

Ugh, Gawds.

He got up and went into his guard position again, smiling at me.

I really wanted to punch that shitty grin off his face.

The thing about being in the sparring ring is, you can beat the other guy up until he just can't move. Since I'm a higher rank than he is, I get to beat the living shit out of him.

Ah, the perks of being me.

He was guarding his stomach better. But I quickly swiped him off his feet and palm-striked him in the chest. He was knocked to the ground. I jumped on his waist and punched him in the face.

He groaned with pain, clutching his face.

His beautiful green eyes then looked at me and he smiled flirtatiously again, "Man. One word: Hot"

Oh, now he's crossed the line. I glared fiercely at him and my fist met his jaw, hard. He was taking this all pretty well though. It was surprising that he had a pretty high toleration rate.

Percy could actually make a good fighter.

In this base, we didn't just train the soldiers a bit and send them off to missions. We put them through grueling challenges and tests and trained them into expert fighters. In other words, we weren't your normal soldiers. Our base specialized in combat training, without using weapons most of the time. We trained all day till our knuckles were split and our faces weren't recognizable anymore and our legs couldn't hold our weight anymore.

Trust me, I've experienced complete exhaustion myself— not fun.

I heard Percy groan again as he looked up at me again. He smirked looking at our position.

If people didn't know we were fighting, it looked like I was straddling him and ready to kiss him.

Ugh, this little shithead.

I pushed off him, kicking his shin, "Pervert."

He held his leg, wincing in pain, but he was also laughing at me.

His lip was burst and he would definitely get a black eye in the morning. His leg and his stomach would probably bruise.

I glared hard at his grinning face.

Light stubble gave his jaw a darker tone. It made him look more rugged, from when he first came here— as a rich spoiled pretty boy.

I got to admit it made him look a lot hotter.

"Get up." I ordered.

He did, looking at me with a smile starting to play on his lips.

For long hours, I trained him— mostly beating him up. In the middle of the hot day, I slid off my shirt exposing my navy sports bra— it was getting hot here. I kept on my fitting combat pants and pulled my hair up into my usual ponytail.

His eyes widened and I felt his eyes moving up and down my body. Gods, when will this guy learn.

I slammed my foot into his chest. "Focus, Seaweed Brain!"

He smirked and got up ready for another round. He was handling this a lot better than a lot of other soldiers I've trained. Though his mental stability could use some work.

We fought hard all day, skipping dinner. The sun was setting, and he still hadn't got a single punch in.

I breathes heavily as I said, "Why aren't you punching? You fight like this in the actual field and your sorry ass will get drilled down in seconds."

He smiled at me, " No, I wouldn't punch a girl ever. I treat girls well, I don't lay a hand on them."

"Don't go talking to me about your moral values and shit. You want to get better? Then you're going to have to land a punch. Now, come at me. Go!"

I stood there, without putting up a defense— welcoming him to punch me.

He walked over to me and tripped me so that I landed on my back. I was breathing heavily and he was on top of me, breathing heavily as well. I was used to this kind of training, but I'm surprised he's still very well conscious.

He had me pinned to the ground, with his hands gripping my wrists strong, but not too strong to break my wrists- his knees on either side of my waist.

I narrowed my eyes at him, glaring at his face. His lips creeped into a smile.

He leaned his head down near my ear and whispered, "Thanks for training me, wise girl. I appreciated your time."

He got off me and walked out of the ring, leaving me lying there in exhaustion, staring incredulously at his disappearing figure.

That butt face of a seaweed brain.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Percy's POV

I walked into the barracks and collapsed onto my bunk. Never in my entire life have I trained that hard. I had wanted to collapse several times, but I didn't want to seem like a weakling in front of her.

Connor's face appeared from the top bunk.

"I heard the hot lieutenant trained you Jackson. Damn, you lucky butt."

"I wouldn't say lucky. I think I'm going to feel pretty lucky tomorrow."

"You know she only strips off her shirt when she's getting serious. And man, is that a sight to see." I heard Travis say, from another bunk.

I remembered when she stripped off her shirt, I saw all the scars she had on her toned and nicely tanned curves. I wonder how brutal her training must have been for her to get those scars.

I couldn't help but wonder if she was just as scarred inside.

"Damn is she smoking or what." another guy said.

"Incredibly. I heard she was the one who trained Luke Castellan."

"Hell, no, really"

"Didn't she date Lieutenant Castellan?"

"Yeah, she did."

"Heard they broke up because of the general."

"Hell no, really?"

"Yeah, he said, it would get in the way of their training and duties. So they broke up and I heard after that, she would always go to the sparring ring and train like crazy."

"Man, they were two of the greatest legendary fighters. Shit, they would always go at it day and night. It was like they never tired."

"Hey guys, have you seen her go swimming? Now that's a sight."

"I would totally die to get that blonde bitch in my bed." They all snickered.

I didn't like how they were talking about her. At all. I couldn't help but be defensive.

"You guys are a bunch of assholes." I said.

"What's it to you, Jackson? You have feelings for her, now that you spent a whole day with her? Huh?! You think you're better than all of us now?" I recognized the voice to be Nakamura's.

"You think you can talk to a girl like that and get away with it?" I said with deathly threat in my voice.

Nakamura jumped out and grabbed my collar hurling me onto the ground. Oh come on. I already got beaten up by Annabeth.

He punched me in the gut multiple times and kicked me in the ribs. I heard a crack and grasped my chest.

OW.

His hands went to my collar again, pulling me up to his face. His nasty breath on my face.

"I can talk however I like about anybody and nobody will stop me. Talk back at me again, Jackson. And I'll do a lot worse than this."

He threw me down again, my head hitting the metal floor.

Oh gods, my ribs.

Black dots formed around my eyes and I passed out.

~o00o~

I woke up to see that I was in the infirmary. White walls, white beds.

I tried to sit up and winced in pain, but managed to sit up. Standing in front of me was a certain blonde beauty. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was glaring at me.

"Stop glaring,"I said, smiling at her, "You're going to knock me unconscious with your eyes."

Her eyes softened a bit, but she kept looking at me.

She let go of her arms and walked over to the side of my bed.

"Why the hell did you get your ribs broken? Now you have to go four days, with no training at all."

"Why, wise girl, you enjoyed training with me that much?"

She glared harder at me, "Four days with no training and yesterday's training would be all for nothing, you idiot."

I just smiled back at her, "I'm sorry, lieutenant."

"Why'd you get into a fight anyway?"

"Guys were saying nasty things, so I just retaliated. They obviously took it pretty badly."

She sighed in exasperation, "Why did you have to talk back? All you had to do is sleep on your little bed, quietly."

"How could I, when they were talking such nasty things about a girl I like." I said smiling at her.

She looked at me curiously, her fierce gaze was gone for a bit, "Acting like a gentleman is going to get you killed here. I suggest you stop."

She paused for a second and our eyes locked for a bit. Her eyes were so beautiful, I could get lost in them forever. I smiled my sweetest at her. How could a girl be so gorgeous? She was a freaking goddess. A fierce goddess in combat clothes which made her look intimidating and— beautiful. Just so beautiful.

Her sexy pink lips looked so kissable. I wondered how they would feel pressed against mine— how her soft luscious looking hair would feel through my fingers.

Her face leaned close to my face and I felt my my heart stop and my stomach fill with a million butterflies. Damn, the affect this girl had on me was crazy and I barely knew her. I caught a nice fragrant strawberry, lemon scent from her.

"See you in four days, Seaweed brain." She said before turning around and leaving.

I tried not to stare at her nice ass as she walked out.

~_Four days later_~

I got discharged and walked out of my bed, feeling a lot better. The pain in my ribs, was only a dull throbbing.

I dressed into my combat clothes and walked out of the infirmary.

I walked out and saw that the training grounds were filled with spars that were happening. There was again, a fight happening that had crowds of guys yelling and cheering on the sidelines.

My friends were all cheering along. Beck was also standing there, smiling. I walked over next to my friends and saw a sight for my sore eyes.

It was a certain athletic looking girl with blonde hair which swished left and right as she took down a guy left and right. Gods, I felt my heart beating faster.

I watched as she moved with such expert ease and dexterity. I watched as she jumped with her deathly move of flipping a guy over, slamming his back to the ground with her legs. She punched and jabbed swiftly but with rapid speed. It seemed as if she always knew what was behind her. A man came up behind her and she elbowed him in the fast and hammered him in the gut without looking back. I saw her turn to back up against another person's back and that's when I noticed that she was fighting alongside someone.

He turned his head and I saw the scar and his blonde hair— Luke Freaking Castellan.

I didn't know the guy, but I didn't like him one bit.

But they seemed to fight well together, Very well. She would punch someone and he would have her back. They were like a dynamic duo, taking down soldiers left and right.

He fought pretty well too. I must admit, not as good as Annabeth, but definitely an expert fighter. He knew where to hit and how hard to hit without killing them.

One guy left and Annabeth used Luke's crouched knee as a boost to jump high, with her left knee high up. Her right leg came down swiftly on the poor guy's head, smashing him into the ground.

Annabeth landed perfectly on her feet and stood next to Luke, breathing heavily. The crowds yelled with great vigor at the duo.

I wondered what it must feel like to fight next to Annabeth and not be her target for once.

Luke and Annabeth had taken down at least thirty burly men.

Annabeth picked up her towel and took a swig of her water bottle.

Luke's arm wrapped around her waist, making me sick. He whispered something in her ear that made her smile.

She then walked out of the ring as the crowds dispersed. Her eyes locked on mine and I smiled at her. Her brows raised up, seeing me and she walked over to me. Luke being close behind her.

And let me tell you, sweat beading on her forehead and her chest glistening and heaving. She was one hot mess after fighting.

Her grey eyes looked even more startling than ever— with the adrenaline still coursing through her veins.

"Great fight." I said.

She glared at me, "Get in the ring, Jackson." she said, "You have catching up to do."

"But you're not going to be fighting me. You're fighting him." She said, pointing behind her at Luke.

"What? why?"

"Don't ask, just do." She said.

I groaned. I had wanted to train with her. Maybe that's why she wanted me to fight this— Luke.

Luke smirked at me, "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."

Wow, just my luck.

I walked into the ring with Luke and he just stood there waiting for me to make the first move.

Ha, gladly. I'll gladly punch you in the face.

I swung at his face and he easily dodged it. I let there be an opening when I punched him— I'm so stupid.

He grabbed my arm which swung at him and palm strikes me in the chest, making me stumble back.

I looked at Annabeth who was watching with her arms crossed.

Hours passed with me trying to get a punch in, always getting overwhelmed by Luke. But I always got back up.

I was getting tired. My ribs throbbed more.

Luke took the opportunity and swept me off my feet making me smash on my back to the floor.

My breath was knocked out of me.

I heaved and stood up again.

"You just don't give up do you?" Luke said.

I smiled, with half of my face bruised up.

He landed a blow on my chest, sending blood spurting out of my mouth. He then kicked me hard in the stomach, sending me crashing on my back again.

This time I didn't get back up.

My vision blurred. Every inch of my body bruised.

I cleared my vision and saw that Luke had turned his back, satisfied that I was on the ground.

I struggled to my feet and ran to Luke grabbing his shoulder around and hitting his jaw hard with my right hand and kneeing him as hard as I could in the stomach and punching him hard again in the nose giving him a bloody nose. I raged with all the kicks I sent him in the stomach.

He bent forward, surprised by the attacks.

He fell from the blows. And while he was crouching forward, I knocked him hard on the head, knocking him out.

I stood there heaving, blood dripping from my nose and mouth.

I collapsed onto the ground and the last I saw were two beautiful shocked grey eyes.

—

I woke up, feeling water all around me. Somebody had thrown me into the waves of a beach.

"What the hell?!" I sputtered.

I mean I didn't mind the water, but last I remembered I was knocked out. It's not very nice to throw a knocked out guy into sea water.

Standing on the beach right out of reach of the waves was a certain blonde girl who was smirking for once.

She had stripped off her shirt, exposing her sports bra. Her normal combat pants were replaced with some black adidas sports shorts.

Damn.

Was I dreaming?

The salt water stung my busted lip. Nope, not dreaming. She leaned over with her hands on her knees.

"I thought you needed a nice wake up call, Seaweed brain." She said flatly.

"Wow, and this was your idea? Yeah, drop the knocked out, bruised guy into the water. Great idea. Goodness, heart of stone."

She stifled a laugh at that, but kept her expressionless face.

Wait was she about to laugh? Wow, that's a first.

"You think this is funny?" I asked incredulously.

"Yeah, pretty much."

I looked at her mischievously and she gave me one of her incredulous glares.

And with that I grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the waves.

"Ah! Screw you, Jackson!"

She yelled.

I dunked her head underwater and punched me in the gut, making me lose my hold.

She then resurfaced and spat sea water in my face.

"Ew! gross, Annabeth!" I said.

"Serves you right!" She yelled back, but I saw a twinkle in her eyes of amusement.

I splashed her with water and she shook her head, making her golden wet hair sway in the ocean breeze.

She gave me a sly grin and reached down into the water grabbing a handful of sand mixed with sea weed. She splattered it onto my chest and onto my head.

"Maybe I should call you seaweed brain hairy chest." She said, laughing a bit.

"Hey!"

She finally burst out laughing as I stripped off my shirt to get rid of the sand. I threw my shirt onto the beach and tried to get the sand out of my hair in the water.

She looked at me with a smile and walked over to me, "Here, let me."

Her glorious fingers went through my hair, getting the sand and seaweed out of my raven hair.

It felt nice— comforting. I wished that she would keep her fingers in my hair, but she pulled back.

"Alright, I think I got all of it," She said laughing lightly.

I looked at her gratefully and my eyes locked on her grey ones.

She smirked at me and said, "Here go shower and go to the main office. The general's here and he wants to see you."

"What? The general?"

"Yeah, Which is why I woke you up in the first place."

She walked out of the waters, I almost got lost in the mesmerizing sway of her hips as she walked off.

The general?

What could the general want with me?


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Percy's POV

After I took a quick shower, I changed into black combat pants and a clean white t shirt. I then walked towards the main office.

When I got there, there were guards everywhere. A guard knocked on the door and said, "General? Percy Jackson is here to see you."

"Send him in." Said a deep voice.

I walked in and saw a man in those military suits with a bunch of medals near his chest pockets.

He looked to be in his mid 40's and had dark grey eyes which sparkled with intelligence but also looked tired.

Caramel brown hair cropped around his head and he had a grey shade of stubble on his jaw.

He looked up as I walked in.

"Percy Jackson, it's so nice to finally meet you. You're the spitting image of your father."

"You knew my father? sir?"

He chuckled, "Yes, I did. We were in the same bunk bed together."

"Oh, I never knew my father went to the military."

"There's a lot of things people don't know about Poseidon. Things he keeps from even his own son."

I stayed quiet.

"So I assume you've met my daughter."

"Your daughter? sir?"

"Percy, if my name's Frederick Eugene Chase, who do you think my daughter is?" He said smiling warmly.

I felt my eyes widen, "Annabeth's your daughter? She's the general's daughter?!"

He laughed, "She's one tough girl, isn't she. I was always sorry for not letting her pursue her dream for architecture. It's just that since her mother passed away, I didn't want Annabeth to leave me for college. I made her go through a lot."

He said more to himself than to me. "Anyways Jackson, the reason I called you here was because I saw your fight with one of the lieutenants. Luke Castellan."

"What about it, sir?"

"You are born a fighter. I can see it in your eyes. To have beaten a highly trained lieutenant with pure endurance is something that a good leader needs. So with that being said," He folded his hands in front of him,

"I would like to let you compete in the Titan's Match."

I sat there, staring at him. Even I knew what the Titan's match was. It was legendary. Whoever won, would be raised to Corporal status, which is even higher than a lieutenant. I heard they have it every ten years.

"But sir, I'm just a normal soldier."

He smiled at me, "You're father competed and won too Jackson. I know you have the willpower and strength to do it."

He let it sink in, then said, "Oh and Percy, I know you have feelings for Annabeth, but you have to let those feelings go. For your and her benefit. trust me on this."

"May I ask why? You broke up Luke and Annabeth as well."

"I'm sorry Percy, but it's the way it has to be. She needs to focus on her training and studying. I really want her to succeed. Your father would want this too."

I stayed quiet, thinking there had to be a secret reason for not wanting me and Annabeth together. I didn't know what it was, but I felt uneasy, thinking about it.

—

I walked out and saw Annabeth waiting outside. Her hair was wet from the shower she must have had. She had on her clean white fitted t shirt and a pair of cargo pants, looking as gorgeous as ever.

"Did you have a nice talk with my dad?" She asked with a smirk that sent butterflies through my stomach again.

"About that, You never told me you were the general's daughter."

"Is it that important to know?"

"Uh, sort of. yeah."

"What did my dad say?"

"Why so interested, Chase?" I smugly smiled at her.

She simply glared at me, "Just tell me, Jackson."

"He told me to compete in the Titan's Match."

She gasped slightly. "Wow, you must have impressed him well."

"Yeah, I guess."

We walked out of the building,

"The match's in two days Seaweed brain, I suggest you rest."

She said before walking away— at least she wasn't glaring at me as much these days.

The thing the general said, nipped at the back of my head.

What reason could there be that Annabeth and I could never be together?

I pushed it to the deep pit of my brain and walked to the barracks, ready to go to sleep.

That night I dreamed a pretty nice dream.

I was sitting on the beach enjoying the night ocean breeze. The stars were in the sky. I watched as I drew with a finger the constellations in the air, connecting the dots.

I felt a hot breathe on my neck, that sent shivers down my spine. I looked down to see golden curls splayed around my chest. The girl looked up and I saw only grey. Sparkly stormy grey shades all in her utterly beautiful eyes. But somehow, they were sad. So sad, that I wanted to comfort her.

So, I pointed to the stars, "Wherever I may be, just remember that we're still under the same sky with all the same stars, whether it be seen or hidden."

"You should become a poet, someday." She joked.

I laughed and then

reached up and pretended to grab a star. Then I pretended to have caught in my hand.

She laughed at my act.

I brought my cupped hand to her and opened my fingers.

There in the middle of my palm was a beautiful, but simple diamond ring.

She gasped, her grey eyes widening.

"Wear it, Annabeth, Don't take it off.

So that whoever sees it will know, that you are the only star in my sky."

And with that I woke up breathing heavily. Everybody else was still sleeping. Nico was snoring really loudly.

It must have been 3 in the morning or something.

I walked out of the barracks, throwing on only a hoodie over my bare torso. I had sweats on to keep my legs warm.

The night air was calming and everything was so peaceful.

I went to the weapons room and picked out a sword. It was nice to have a sword in my hand for the first time coming here. Hope they wouldn't mind me using one.

I went over to the dummies that were stuck on wooden poles. I slashed and whipped the sword with great expertise. It felt great to use a sword again. As I said earlier, I was a pretty good fencer.

The wood shook from each blow I gave it. I vented out all my stress the past few weeks on that little dummy.

I don't know how long I went at it, but soon I heard a familiar voice which stopped me.

"You're pretty good at the sword."

I turned around to see Luke standing there in his royal ass glory— he still had bruises from yesterday when I beat him.

"Thanks, I guess."

"I heard you're going to compete in the Titan's Match. It should be fun to watch your butt get beaten. You're not going to last a second in the ring. Yesterday, I was going pretty easy on you and there are men even stronger than me, competing in this tournament. I suggest you save your life now and resign from doing it."

"Why, Luke, afraid you're going to lose to me?"

"Not in a million years. What happened yesterday was pure luck. If I didn't turn my back then, you would have never gotten back up."

He was a bit true in that.

How could I beat complete professional high rank fighters, when I'm just— well— me.

"Thanks for the reminder, but I don't need you're lectures, Luke."

"Be careful of your tone there, Jackson, I'm still your superior."

And with that he walked off.

I just trained a bit the rest of the day, but they said to not do a lot of training. We were going to fight on our pure skill and adrenaline only.

The next day Annabeth tried to calm my nerves by taking me on a boat ride to another marine port that had many little stores.

She landed on the docks with graceful ease. I followed with a heavy clunk.

Before we left, she jabbed a finger to my chest, "Jackson, don't think of this as a date. It's a friendly outing for you to clear out your mind before you go into the arena."

I chuckled, "Sure, I'll think of it as a date in my head only."

She rolled her eyes then, for the first time she smiled and dragged me through the crowds on the wooden decks. I got to admit, it helped to relieve my anxiety. Annabeth made me put on a hat made out of dried seaweed. It made me feel stupid, but she forced me, saying it was an order and for her own enjoyment.

She dragged me into another trinket store and we got bracelets with our names on them. The bracelets were woven with something straw like and interwoven with shells. A plate was attached. The cool thing was, we could have them engrave anything we wanted on the plate.

You could imagine what she made me engrave on mine.

Yup, "Seaweed Brain"

I made her put, "Wise girl" on hers. I know, it isn't as bad as seaweed brain. But whatever I'll think of something better later.

The cashier said something that made me warm inside, " cute couple names. You two look well together."

"Oh we're not together." Annabeth said.

"Oh you certainly act like it." She then smiled warmly.

I thought I saw a slight blush on Annabeth's cheeks but I might have been seeing things.

We then went to a bookstore where Annabeth spent hours it seemed. I had to drag her out of there by her feet, for us to actually get somewhere.

After we bought hotdogs and curly fries we kept walking down the wooden streets. I enjoyed her company. She made everything seem at ease. I mean, I got glares for doing something stupid, but they weren't so cold anymore.

"You know, Percy, you're not what I thought you were."

"Oh yeah, and what is that?" I said, suddenly interested.

"I thought you were a selfish, good for nothing cheating player who took advantage of girls and lived a high life in his daddy's money. But, you aren't that bad, you're still a seaweed brain."

"These few weeks changed me a lot. Even I can tell."

She looked back up at me and smiled, "Good, at least my punches count for something."

"Hey!"

She laughed and I chuckled along with her. I loved hearing her laugh. A pretty laugh for a pretty face.

I suddenly heard a scream and a loud splash. Someone had fallen off the high docks.

"Here, hold this for me." I shoved my food to Annabeth and ran as fast as I could to the edges. I climbed the edge and dived 50 meters into the water. I had pretty good vision under the water and saw a young boy, his eyes closed— probably unconscious.

I grabbed him around the waist and used my legs to propel us to the surface. I swam over to shore and brought him to the beaches that were beside the dock.

I started to give him mouth to mouth, pounding hard on his chest, trying to get him to react in some way.

I pounded and pounded and breathed air into the boy's mouth until the boy finally gasped and coughed water.

A woman, who looked to be his mom, ran down the stairs of the dock and to the beaches, where we were. I saw Annabeth come down the stairs too and run towards us.

"Oh my gosh, Willy, are you okay?" The woman came over and hugged the boy.

She turned to me and said, "Thank you so much, how can I ever repay you?"

"No, it's fine. I'm glad I could help." I said smiling.

I looked up at Annabeth and saw her lovely lips turn up into a grin.

"Here buddy" Annabeth said as she took off her hoodie and draped it around the boy's shoulders.

The woman looked at the both of us and said, "I'm so grateful to you both. How can I repay you?"

"With nothing ma'am. We're in the army, saving lives is what we do."

"Wow, the army. But I really should give you something." She rummaged through her purse and took out two rectangular pieces of paper, "Since you two seem like a couple, why don't you two go to this free romantic dinner date with a show included. I don't have any use for these. Take them."

"Wow, thank you." Annabeth said.

The woman smiled warmly and left with her son.

Annabeth looked over at me, smiling, "So, wanna catch a free meal?"

I laughed and wrapped my arm around her shoulders like we were the best of friends.

— — — — — —

"Uhm no, thank you, but we will just have the main course please." I said in a british accent of which Annabeth tried not to laugh.

The waiter looked at us weird and walked off.

The restaurant turned out to be pretty fancy. Our table was out on a deck which faced the ocean.

The ocean was beautiful and calm. It sparkled from the full moon that was in the sky.

I looked into Annabeth's eyes and saw that her grey eyes looked brighter— like the color of the bright moon.

I fought the urge to touch the side of her face.

I loved the way she would look incredulously at me when I made a stupid joke, then laugh anyway. I loved how her grey eyes sparkled when she had an idea. I loved how she would bite her lip when she was really concentrated on something. And damn, I loved how she was a badass lieutenant who could probably beat my sorry ass into the dust. I loved her smile. I even loved her death glares. I loved everything about her. She was nothing like the clingy, wild, shy, or bitchy chicks I've met in my many days.

Of course, at first, I only thought of her as another plaything another one of my flings.

But, I definitely changed.

If I saw her walking down the streets of Manhattan a few weeks ago I would probably chase her, sleep with her, dump her, do whatever I did in the past that would cause a ton of heartbreaks and slaps to the face(ouch, those hurt, I should know).

But now, simply put,

I love her.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Percy's POV

After the dinner we drove or boated back to the military base.

I walked with her to her quarters and she turned around.

"I had fun" I said.

"Me too, remember don't get nervous." Her eyes sparkled and she smiled, instantly giving me reassurance.

"Easy for you to say."

She laughed and then she did something that surprised me. She threw her arms around my neck and hugged me.

My own arms crept around her back and rested on her lower back.

It felt nice to have her body close to mine.

Her sweet breathe breathed softly on my neck.

She leaned in to my ear and whispered, "I'm rooting for you Seaweed brain. And don't forget, I still think you're annoying as hell, but don't die on me."

"Such encouraging words." I chuckled slightly as she pulled away, gave me her signature smirk and then walked to her quarters.

I was grinning like an idiot as I walked back to the soldiers quarters.

The next day I woke up and was taken by Beck to a special preparation room that opened before I went into the arena. Apparently everybody was already sitting in the benches that were around the arena. There were going to be three fights for me if I got through all of them. The last one was between finalists. People died in these fights. They ended up killed or seriously injured.

I was asked to pick a weapon. Nobody knew about my sword skills except for Luke. I picked up a light sword. Beck made me wear knee caps— thanks Beck for thinking about my knees, so thoughtful, not like the rest of my body is in danger of getting stabbed.

He also forced a breastplate on me.

"It'll save your life, trust me."

"Thanks, Beck."

"No shield?"

"Nope, too heavy."

He stationed me in front of the door.

"Don't worry, you'll do great."

The doors opened and I walked into a pretty big arena. There were cheers filling the air and yelling that surrounded me, mainly yelling "Greg!". Coming out of the other side of the arena was a man who wasn't buff, is flabby a good word? He looked weighty like a boulder. Oh gods.

All he had was a huge club almost the size of me.

Goodness gracious.

I looked up and saw there was a place reserved for the general, and other high officials. Sitting next to the general was his beautiful daughter. Her grey eyes locked on mine and she gave me a smile which seemed to boost my confidence tenfold.

I saw that her black haired friend with electric blue eyes was sitting next to her.

A referee got in between us.

"Rules, the fight stops if either opponent is seriously injured or knocked out." He turned to the crowd and in the microphone he said, "First fight: Greg vs. Jackson, Ready, Fight!"

He backed away and left the arena. All I heard was the shouts coming from the audience.

All I know is — one blow from that man sized club and I'm dead meat.

Greg twirled his club with incredible speed in the air and slammed it down to where my head would have been if I hadn't dodges out of the way. The force of the blow sent earthquakes everywhere though.

Goodness, how strong could he be?

I looked around at my surroundings and saw flat yellowed grass all around. There had to be a weakness on this guy.

I dodged and dodged and tried to get some attacks in, but this guy's skin was as tough as an elephants.

I needed to distract him. But with what?

I then got an idea.

I then yelled at him, "Hey Greg!"

Over here. I ran around him in circles and he tried to keep up. I then swiftly went the other way confusing him. He was incredibly slow— strong, but slow. He couldn't keep up with my swift movements.

He was getting pretty pissed and his face was getting red.

Greg then took his club and swung it around and around in a circle hoping to get me, but I was already out of range.

He went around and around like a merry go round.

Then he finally got so dizzy he fell onto his back with a crash. The earth shook and I almost stumbled back again.

I walked over to him and saw— Greg was out.

I was lucky, I didn't get hit by his monstrous club.

The crowds went wild, chanting my name over and over.

The referee came and raised up my arm. "Winner: Jackson! Percy Jackson will precede to the next round."

I was escorted back out of the arena as I saw they got a stretcher and got ten men to get Greg onto it.

Beck clapped me on the back and I saw Luke go out into the arena.

He gave me a murderous look before he walked into the arena gaining shouts and cheers right from the start.

~the next day~

Beck got me ready again and I was sent through the doors of the arena again. I heard the cheers again and I saw the general in his suit watching with his grey eyes. I saw the same grey eyes next to him, but those eyes twinkled and sparkled more vibrantly— the eyes I loved.

People were screaming my name. I felt like a gladiator in a colosseum. I guess I sort of was.

My opponent wasn't fat or heavy. He looked strong, buff. He had a strong build and had two double curved swords in each hand. He wore gloves with spike on them. His kneecaps also had spikes on them and so did his feet.

Half of his face was covered with a mask. The eye under the mask was a different color than his other normal one. Now that was intimidatingly creepy.

I got a feeling this guy would be a lot harder to beat. He wasn't heavy, he wasn't light on his feet either.

The referee went over the guidelines again and the second he yelled fight, the spiky guy(yeah Imma call him that) came at me with his two swords. I blocked with my one sword and ducked swiftly as his other sword came towards my head. I parried and blocked as fast as I could. I've never fought a guy who had two swords before. And let me tell you it was a lot harder.

Blades coming at me left and right. I ducked and swiped as fast as I could.

Sweat beaded my forehead. My heart was beating fast. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins.

One of his swords sliced the side of my ribs. I winced and he took that moment to raise his spiked knee to my gut.

How would you describe this? Um, let's see, it felt like a bunch of kneedles of knives stabbed me in the stomach.

I bent forward in pain and his spiked fist met my jaw, sending me sprawling to the ground. He turned around and raised his arms, yelling in his deep throated voice. The crowd yelled with him.

I wasn't knocked out yet, but I certainly felt like it. Blood mixed with my saliva was dripping from my lip and mouth. My jaw probably looked terrible. Everywhere hurt. My stomach felt like it was on fire. The pain was excruciating.

I looked to my sword that was inches from my hand and grabbed it. With every single ounce of my strength I hurled the sword towards his legs. The sword spun and spun and dug into his calves. Spiky guy cried out in pain. I got up on my feet and stumbled to him. I took out the sword from his calf making him cry out in pain even more. Then I took the hilt of my sword and hit him hard on the back of his head.

He slumped forward and collapsed onto the ground.

I huffed and my chest heaved loudly.

My ribs were killing me. My stomach felt like it was being ripped out and my face felt like it was burning in boiling hot water. The crowds were going crazy, yelling and chanting my name.

I looked up with blood dripping from my mouth and saw her grey concerned eyes. The general was beaming at me. I felt my arm raise up.

"Winner Percy Jackson! He is your finalist!"

I saw Beck and Nico come out to help me back out of the arena.

"You look terrible." Nico said.

"Thanks, that makes me feel so much better." I said.

"Hey, at least you've made it to the finals." Beck said.

I heard footsteps and saw a hot blonde run to me. My heart seemed to let out a sigh of relief. She cradled my face instantly and examined my jaw.

"Oh my God." She said.

She turned to Beck who saluted her. "Enough with the formalities, get me a nurse, a aid kit, bandages, anything!" She ordered.

Beck and Nico ran off to follow her order.

She turned back to my face and I just smiled, glad that she was with me. Her strawberry scent filled me and instantly calmed my nerves. The adrenaline in my veins receded.

She looked at me incredulously, "Seriously? Is this a time to be smiling. You're face looks like shit. Here lay down."

I did as she asked and she took a knife out. My eyes widened.

"Don't worry" she said.

She took my shirt and started to cut it off my body. She pulled the cut up shirt away carefully as not to harm my wounds and placed her soft, cool fingers on my stomach and ribs. I winced a bit and her face cringed seeing the damage left by the spikes.

She saw the cut on my ribs and cursed.

I simply held her hand which was on my stomach in mine, making her look at me. My vision was getting blurred. Black dots formed around my eyes.

"Annabeth." I said before passing out from blood loss.

I woke up on a white sheet bed. I've been in here before— the infirmary.

I saw a blonde head of honey golden curls laying on the side of the bed. Her hand was resting on my stomach. I held her soft hand. There were surprisingly no scars on her hands. I would think she would, thinking of all the guys she's punched.

I held her hand to my chest, making her wake up.

Her eyes were half open. She looked so adorable with her golden curls all messy.

Her grey eyes shot open, seeing as I was awake.

She sat her bottom on the side of my bed, her hand still in mine held to my chest— she didn't make any movements to pull away.

"How's your ribs?"

"fine, I feel great."

"Finals are today. You sure you don't want to just quit out. You've proven yourself to everyone, to my father already."

She said with worry in her eyes. She looked so cute when she was worried.

"No, I'm fighting."

I got out of bed with Annabeth's help, my ribs were a dull throb and my stomach and jaw didn't hurt that much.

I told her to go sit in her spot, saying that I could handle it.

She reluctantly agreed.

I walked out and met Beck who was already standing in the prep room. He helped me into my armor and handed me my sword.

I thanked him and slowly walked into the arena.

People were wildly cheering for me and the man in front of me.

Luke.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Annabeth's POV

I had stayed with Percy the whole night. I don't know why it was but I felt the need to protect him to keep him safe. Watching him get beat up was hard for me. If I had seen him get beat up a month ago, I wouldn't give two shits. In fact, I would probably be entertained— just a dumb rich spoiled asshole getting beat up. But something inside me was crushed every time I saw him take a blow. All I wanted was to go out there myself and beat the living shit out of Percy's opponent.

These were friendly feelings—I swear— right?

When I saw him dive into the ocean waters to save that kid's life, it struck something deep in me.

Made me realize this guy wasn't a selfish bastard. Well, I guess something more than that. But I couldn't pinpoint it at the moment.

I saw Luke come out to meet Percy. My history with Luke was confusing and well long.

I bet everybody knows how my dad broke us up a lone time ago. I was like sixteen then— so yeah I was pretty heartbroken.

And no, I probably didn't know anything about how much of a asshole Luke actually was back then— I was well love struck.

I know how much of a jackass he was after I broke up with him. But there was still a brotherly bond with him, so I didn't hate on him that much.

And frankly my feelings for Percy were just undefined.

Were we friends?

I mean the way he holds my hand says otherwise. It was probably just a friendly gesture.

The way he smiles at me— like he doesn't want to look at anybody else but me.

I watched as Luke walked up to Percy, interrupting my thoughts.

They both only had swords in hand.

I knew well how both of them fought. And honestly, Percy fought better with a sword, but Luke had experience and long years of training in his hands.

There was something funny about the way Luke's sword glinted in the light. It looked almost a sickly green color. The sunlight beamed off of it making it look varnished and glossy compared to Percy's.

Something wasn't right.

They started fighting. Percy was holding his ground pretty well with Luke's strikes coming at him like a whirlwind. Percy parried and struck in places that he could.

Luke dodged and parried expertly.

I don't know how long they were fighting. Couple hours maybe? Both of them looked like they might fall any minute. I saw Percy than strike as hard as he could at Luke's sword. I saw a some liquid drop off of Luke's sword and onto the ground.

It sizzled and made the grass go yellow in the area that it touched.

Percy seemed to notice and looked down. Luke took this moment to attack.

Oh no.

"Percy!" I screamed as loud as I could.

But it was too late. Luke's sword struck through Percy's abdomen, sinking into his body.

I saw Percy's eyes go wide as he slumped forward.

I frantically grabbed my dad's arm, but I saw in his eyes, that he already knew of Luke's cheating.

He nodded with a sad expression and I ran down to meet Percy.

He was already on a stretcher and being brought to the infirmary when I got there.

I ran to his side. They had gotten the sword out. I didn't dare look, afraid I'd break.

Doctors were fiddling with wires to attach to his chest. Why the hell were they attaching it to his chest? The problem was his freaking abdomen.

They had to take him into emergency operation.

Some guards pulled me from his side and I just screamed and shouted out his name.

"Sorry lieutenant, doctor's orders." said a guard.

They closed the doors and I banged hard on them until my fists were bruised. I heard his bloodcurdling screams. Tears burned behind my eyes.

I have never cried since I was nine, when my mother died.

Gods, they couldn't do this to me.

I collapsed to my knees.

Please, Percy, you have to live. For my sake…


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Percy's POV

All I remember was hearing Annabeth's beautiful voice. Her voice calling my name before Luke's sword sank into my stomach.

I don't know how I survived, but I can tell you that getting stabbed deep with a poisonous sword is something you don't want to have done to you— trust me.

I don't know how many hours I screamed in pain, tears pouring down my face and sweat beading my forehead. It was a pain I had never felt before. Not just the pain of the cut, but the burning of the poison was eating me up— literally.

Luckily for me, the doctors had managed to extract all the poison. They gave me painkillers(seriously why not give me that, before).

I passed out from screaming my lungs out.

I dreamed of her smile. I dreamed of putting my fingers through her luscious golden curls. I dreamed of her grey eyes which sparkled with intelligence. I dreamed of her.

I half woke shirtless and bandaged around the abdomen. I felt like shit.

My head was heavily throbbing and I just felt beat up.

My sword wounds were painfully irksome. I felt like my insides were still burning.

Overwhelmed with pain, I drifted back into the subconsciousness of dreams.

I woke up again to see my friends all crowding around me.

"Dude, you lucky bastard. You're awake." Nico said, grinning.

"The zombie's awake." Jason chuckled.

"Oh shut up" My voice was husky from disuse.

"Glad to see you back with the living, Perce." Grover said.

"How long have I been out?"

"Four days. Doctor said it was your way of healing your body faster." Nico said.

I tried to get up, my sword wounds were only a dull throb.

"Where's Annabeth?"

"She's out training. Told us to not bother her."

"And did Luke win?" I asked angrily.

"He was actually banished from the military for the usage of poisons and cheating on the Titan's match."

I nodded, "Guys help me out of this bed."

They did and gave me a walking stick.

Nico clasped my back, "Hey gramps." He said jokingly.

I gave him my best glare and limped carefully out of the infirmary— where I seemed to go to frequently.

And like my friends said Annabeth was training well more like beating up a bunch of soldiers using only nunchucks.

And damn did she know how to use them.

She used them like they were an extension of her limbs. Looking more beautiful than ever, she fought them, easily bringing every man down to their knees. Her legs swiped one guy off their feet as she brought the the nunchuck out to swipe another guy's feet.

Sweat beaded her forehead.

She slammed the last guy with a fierce swing of her weapon to his chest and stood, swinging the nunchuck over her shoulder.

Her eyes looked at me and gave me a cold glare— uh oh. She's mad. She stomped away form the ring and marched up to me, grabbing the collar of my shirt in the process.

Her face was inches from mine— not that I minded at all.

"Don't you dare ever give me such a scare like that again and go die on me! Or so God help me I will kill you myself."

"I wanted to see you too, Annabeth." I said smiling.

She frowned at me, dead serious.

"Believe me, Percy I know what it's like to lose someone and I don't want to go through it again."

I cupped her face calming her instantly, "I swear it, Annabeth, I won't die on you ever."

She finally loosened her grip on my shirt then stepped away from me.

"Good. You better not." She said before walking away back into the ring to train.

Before training again she turned to me, her eyes sparkling and a slight smile playing on her lovely pink lips.

The bell suddenly rang to signal a premature assembly.

We all stopped what we were doing and gathered to where everybody was crowding around a stadium.

The general was there and so were a bunch of other higher up officials.

Annabeth and her black haired friend were there too, because of their rank.

I saw Jason sitting next to a brown haired girl. The same girl who hung out with Annabeth and Thalia.

They were cuddling with each other and whispering in each other's ears.

I smirked. When did that happen?

I saw Nico rolling his eyes next to them and Grover simply laughing as I walked over to them and sat next to Grover.

"You guys know why we're being called here?" I asked.

"Nope, but I heard Beck mention something about it being a promotion ceremony."

"Cool wonder whose getting raised a rank?" Grover said.

I was about to say something when I heard the general's voice booming in the microphone.

"As you all know, the Titan's match ended on arbitrary terms. This is what this assembly is for. Luke Castellan has already been punished for his crimes and banished. But we still need to promote someone to corporal status. This man has shown true valor and endurance that surpasses the standards of any soldier. His many wounds will be a the evidence of this reward that I am about to give to him. I knew his father. This boy could definitely match or even surpass his father's skills as a Lieutenant in the army."

.

So without further ado.

Percy Jackson, please come forward."

I froze. Did he just say my name?

Grover and Nico were smiling like idiots as they pushed me on my feet— lightly of course.

I used my walking stick to limp through the walkways made by the chairs.

Every eye on me.

I simply looked into the eyes that I had loved at first sight. Her grey eyes were sparkling and she had her signature smirk on her face.

That was all I needed to walk the steps.

The general came over to me and pinned a Lieutenant badge near my shirt chest pocket. I definitely didn't feel like a Lieutenant

— what with all the bandages and my cane. But the crowds rose and cheered for me, clapping loudly.

I couldn't help but smile widely.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Percy's POV

I was given new quarters. A private room all to myself. Plus a new office.

And boy did I have the experience— I said to myself sarcastically.

I was sitting on his bed, getting rid of my bandages. My wounds were now scabs, so I didn't need to look like a gramps zombie anymore.

There was suddenly a knock at the door. I walked over and opened it, still shirtless.

Standing there was the girl of my dreams.

She wasn't wearing her usual combat clothes. Must be on her break.

A loose white blouse covered her top figure and she wore fitting dark jeans with a brown belt.

Damn did she look hot, without her black combat pants and knives. I mean I loved her both ways. But seeing her like this— I got to admit— was sort of a turn on.

She gave me a once over.

Her perfectly knit brows raised up.

"You took off your bandages?"

"Yeah, they were bothering me. And besides I don't need them anymore."

She nodded, "Well, are you going to let me in any time soon?"

I chuckled at her and swung the door wider, stepping aside for her to come in.

"So what are you doing here, Chase. I don't have to call you ma'am anymore, do I?"

She turned to me, before sitting on my bed, smirking, "Nope, but your new Lieutenant

status isn't going to change the fact that I'm going to call you seaweed brain for the rest of your life." I laughed at that.

"And.." Her eyes turned to me, slowly,

"And?"

"I came to congratulate you on your new position."

"It wasn't because you wanted to see me." I smiled smugly.

She rolled her eyes, playfully though. Her hands were set behind her, allowing her to lean on her palms while sitting cross-legged on my bed.

I walked closer to her and put my own hands on the bed, each one next to her thighs.

"You should show me more respect Chase. I'm a Lieutenant

now too."

"Oh please, I could beat you one on one in the ring anytime." She said with a smirk on her pink soft looking lips which were only a few inches from mine.

I chuckled and immediately became entranced in her mesmerizing grey eyes, sparkling in every radiant light— like stars dancing in the night sky.

"Oh yeah?" I said, playing along with the mock child likeness of our banter.

Her hot, sweet breathe grazed my nose. Her lips were so close to mine. It seemed like an invisible magnetic energy was pulling me towards her lips.

If I wasn't imagining things I saw her lean forwards too.

"Yeah" She breathed quietly, before our senses were overpowered by our passionate lust and our lips finally crashed together. You don't know how long I had been waiting to kiss these lips. I had been aching every time I saw her.

But, boy were they so much more amazing than I had ever imagined.

It wasn't one of those innocent, teenage kisses they show in like high school dramas. It was full of intense passion— Our built up feelings somehow colliding in that very moment and bursting forth.

Our lips fit perfectly together — completely synchronized— and pleasure overwhelmed every nerve and vein of my body. Her hands snaked up around my neck and played with my hair, slightly tugging— putting me on edge.

My hands immediately went to her waist, rubbing her sides and soon, I found that my hands were pulling out the ends of her blouse that was tucked into her jeans. My fingers went under and hungrily felt up her bare sides.

She let out a moan into our kisses, making me even more hungry for her lips.

Annabeth was half lying down on the bed with me on top— Our legs intertwined somehow. My left hand went up to caress her cheek and slide around to hold the back of her head, pulling her closer into the kiss. Her golden curls felt so soft in my hands.

All I could think about was how amazing and right this felt.

I couldn't believe she didn't push me away and run away.

Giving into my desires, my right hand went to the buttons of her blouse, frantically unbuttoning each, then stripping it away and flinging it over my shoulder. Damn, she looked amazing— as always— with her half naked curves, that my hands immediately went to.

Her nicely tanned skin was incredibly soft, despite her scars that I had noticed before when training with her. I traced each one slightly with my fingers, making her shiver underneath me.

Her hand that wasn't occupied with my hair trailed down, pressing against my chest— stopping for a moment— then feeling down my abdomen, avoiding my wounds. It was my turn to shiver with pleasure.

What she did next caught me off guard. She flipped me over onto my back ( I don't know how she did it. But she has flung men ten times her size over her shoulder before), getting on top— our lips breaking apart for a second before she crashed her lips on mine again.

Holy shit— it took me a while to process the fact that Annabeth Chase was straddling me. I mean she did get on top of me before, but that was before she punched me hard in the face while training.

My fingers went to her lovely curls again, loving the feeling of their silky smoothness. She pulled away from my lips and soon, her mouth met the side of my jaw, slipping down to nip at my ear. It was the best feeling, I couldn't help but let out a deep throated groan.

Her kisses then trailed down my neck. Gods, she was even slightly biting, somehow sending me more and more into my blissful senses.

Only she could make me feel this way. And I've been with a lot of girls— I can tell you that— and no girl has ever made me feel so alive.

Her fingers then went to the buttons of my pants.

Two, could play this game you know.

I flipped her over on the bed, a growl rising from the back of my throat. My fingers went to her belt, slipping it expertly off and onto the floor. Her jeans followed.

My lips caught with her soft lips again and she let out a pleasurable sigh.

Gods, I could kiss her all day.

My mind was a blur. My senses were heightened to its peak.

All I could think about was this beautiful girl who managed to capture my heart whole.

Annabeth Chase— the star in my sky.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

My eyes fluttered open half way. I had a very nice dream— looking to the person in my arms I saw why.

I instantly smiled. She was sleeping soundly— looking adorable as ever. I could feel her heart beating against my chest, listening to her breathe in and out. It was calming. I never felt so content in my life. I never felt like this with anybody else in my life.

I watched as her own eyes fluttered open and I was now locked eyes with a grey eyed girl. Her brows went up in a confused way.

"What hap—?" Her eyes widened with shock and I thought she was going to run away, but she didn't.

She just smiled and laughed softly, "Oh God."

I chuckled along with her.

She got out of my embrace and changed into her white blouse and jeans.

"Well, that wasn't really how I pictured my night to go when I stopped by your room." She said, still smiling beautifully.

I laughed quietly as she turned to me fully dressed in those cursed clothes.

She walked back to me and slipped her body between my legs, wrapping her arms around my neck. I was only wearing boxers.

My hands went to her mesmerizing hips, rubbing her sides and slightly slipping under the hem of her blouse to feel her bare skin. She had a slight smile playing on her lips— which I found very sexy.

"But I didn't regret one bit of it." She said as she leaned in to my lips. I smiled like an idiot as our lips crashed together— letting us remember how blissful last night was.

She pulled away first and I groaned in disappointment like a little boy. Her lips turned up in a smile and gave me a light peck before pulling away again.

"We should get going. People will be wondering where we are."

As she was turning away I grabbed her waist and pulled her down with me on the bed again. We were laughing and she was trying to kick me off as I finally got her pinned down.

I leaned down close to her smiling face, her eyes sparkling brightly.

"You forget, you're in my room. You're not going anywhere, until I say so." I said, burying my face in the crook of her neck. I gladly took in her nice strawberry scent and kissed her neck lightly, she let out a calm sigh.

I was having a grand time, kissing her neck, tasting her skin, when we were suddenly oh so rudely interrupted by someone.

"OH. My. GOD."

We both turned around to see Annabeth's black haired friend in the doorway. I immediately got off of Annabeth, instantly missing the feel of her skin on my lips. She sat up and said, "Oh, hey Thalia, I was just, um, leaving."

Annabeth jumped off the bed and went towards a still shocked Thalia who had her mouth gaping open. Ananbeth turned with a smile on her lips, "Bye Percy, I'll see you later."

I could tell she was trying not to laugh as she left, dragging Thalia along with her.

I just sat there, smiling like an idiot after her.

— — — — —

I was walking out to the fields after meeting up with the general in his office to discuss my duties as Lieutenant again.

I was given many salutes as I walked by and I got to admit— it was pretty great.

The fields were crowded with fights as usual.

I saw my favorite girl training Jason in the ring. Jason had gotten pretty good at fighting. His movements were quicker and was pretty strong. But he was no match for Annabeth, who easily found an opening near his waist and knocked him down with a flick of her palm.

I watched as she helped him up gave him words of advice and let him go out.

Next was Nico. Nico was the kind of guy who was more on the offensive. He was aggressive in his fighting. Annabeth knew this well and preserved her attacks to blocks tiring the poor kid out. He flailed out left and right trying to get an attack in.

But Annabeth was too quick on her feet.

Nico paused for a second a bit tired out. Annabeth took that second to quickly disarm him and give him a chokehold down to the ground.

"Never, lose your focus." Annabeth said, "Or you'll get yourself killed."

She saw me standing there out of the corner of her eye and turned to me.

"Jackson, don't just stand there. Help me train these bastards who can't throw punches right."

"Heyyy." Nico said, butt hurt.

I chuckled at him and walked over to the ring, standing in front of Annabeth. It looked to the outside viewer that I was talking important matters with her, but I was actually staring into her beautiful eyes again. Just looking at them would give me comfort and pure bliss.

She was smiling up at me with— was that love in her eyes?

She quickly grabbed my chin downwards, so that our faces were close together.

Oh how I ached to kiss those lips again.

"I really want to kiss you." I complained with a pout on my face.

She laughed and pointed to the soldiers.

"Do your job, Seaweed Brain."

I still was pouting but did as she asked.

She had more experience so she had a bit more authority than me.

I trained Grover and a bunch of others, including that Nakamura guy— who I took down easily if I say so myself.

After hours and hours of training the soldiers, some being new recruits, it was night time.

When everybody dispersed and went in for the night, me and Annabeth stayed in the ring. Her back was turned to me, picking up the weapons from the ground.

I went and grabbed her around the waist, trying to get her by surprise— big mistake.

She hammered me in the stomach kicking me in the shins with the back of her feet and swiping me off my feet, all in a moments time.

Soon my back was to the floor and her arm was holding down my neck.

Her grey eyes were locked on mine.

"Sorry, habit." She said realizing it was me. Damn, I''m never surprising her again.

She stayed on top of me and I smiled at her, liking the small intimate distance between us.

She rolled her eyes playfully. Her arm left my neck and came around my head to my hair. I immediately was calmed down from her touch.

I kissed her lips, loving her taste and slipped my tongue into her warm mouth. She gladly let me and slightly bit my bottom lip, making me groan with pleasure.

She pulled away— much to my disappointment— and looked into my eyes, her hands still in my hair.

I caressed her cheek with my hand and just relished the feeling of her fingers in my hair.

I pushed a few golden strands of hair behind her ear.

She was so beautiful. A goddess.

"You're beautiful." I said.

She smirked, "Is that how you flirt? I would think you had more creative ways."

I smiled, "Oh trust me, I do."

"Here, think of me as a girl at the bar, what would you say to me?"

"That's the thing though. If I saw you at the bar, I wouldn't flirt with you. I would just downright kiss you full on the lips."

Annabeth burst out laughing, "Wow, true bravery right there."

I smiled back at her sarcasm.

I then got up and picked her up bridal style.

She laughed easily as I dug my face into her neck. She didn't weigh anything it seemed. I walked over towards the beach and went towards the waves.

I set her down on the sand right where the waves couldn't reach us.

We sat there side by side watching the waves crash. Her head rested on my shoulder. A calm and comfortable stillness rested between us.

We were both falling asleep when suddenly Annabeth stood up. "What? What's wrong?" I asked.

Damn, she could be pretty quick for someone who was just few moments ago, falling asleep.

"Nothing. I just thought I heard something." She said, turning back to me, her grey eyes confused.

And that's when I saw a dark figure behind her. She sensed it too and tried to attack quickly but it was too late. The looming figure knocked her out on the head. Annabeth's body fell to the floor.

My eyes widened.

"Annabeth!" I said before I felt a thud over my own head, bringing me into black unconsciousness.

— — — —

My head hurt like a thousands needles were poking it. I could feel my hands were bound tight with ropes. My eyes fluttered open. At first all I could see was a blur of darkness. I could hear Annabeth screaming and immediately turned my head to the noise.

She was struggling against two large burly giants who were holding her arms fast, behind her back. It looked useless to try and get out of that grip— until she did.

Her feet swung up in front of her and hammered both of them square in the groin. Ouch! I felt pain just watching. Their arms let go and Annabeth stepped away from them.

"Hold her down properly you idiots! I told you not to underestimate her." A voice said in the dark.

It was a familiar voice.

Two other giant men came and grabbed her again this time pushing her on her knees hard.

She blew blonde strands of hair out of her face— clearly frustrated. Even in the worst of situations she still looked gorgeous. Her stormy silver eyes turned to mine and instantly were filled with relief.

A figure stepped out of the shadows. He had blonde hair and a scar that ran down the side of his face. His blue eyes were mischievous and sparkling with delight seeing his captives held down.

He turned and smiled at me.

Luke.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Luke." I heard Annabeth say quietly.

He turned to Annabeth, "Sorry Annie, but it isn't my fault that you're the person he cares for the most." He looked to his man giant guards and pointed with his head toward a metal chair that had cuffs on the arms.

"ANNABETH! NO! STOP, Luke WHAT THE F# $ DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?"

"Shut him up. Goodness, the whole city will hear."

City? We were in the city?

The guys holding my arms taped duck tape over my mouth. I couldn't say anything, only muffled noises.

I saw her thrash as hard as she could out of their grasp, but they somehow managed to get her force her into the chair.

While trying to cuff her, I saw her use all her strength to raise her feet into the air. She kicked one guard hard in the law. Damn.

Now, I feel like the damsel in distress.

The guy she kicked howled loudly cupping his face with his hands. Annabeth tried to take the chance to push her way out of the chair, but seriously, no matter how great of a fighter she is, it's sort of impossible for a girl who weighs almost nothing to go against a 200 pound giant.

They had her wrists wrapped tightly to the seat, clicked in with metal cuffs.

She huffed, her chest moving up and down.

Luke walked slowly towards me and smiled smugly.

"You know Percy, revenge is sweet, isn't it?"

A growl emerged deep from my throat.

"Now, Perce. Since you took something of mine, I'll take something of yours. Simple exchange is what I would like to call it."

He was sick.

He then walked over to Annabeth and grabbed her chin with his firm fingers, forcing her head to tilt up to his.

"Oh my dear Annabeth, you made a terrible mistake falling in love with that." He pointed to me. Thanks I don't even get a name now.

"You're the one whose going to get hurt. I hate to do this to you, but sadly, I had no choice."

He didn't look sorry at all.

Luke went over to a tray on a table and picked up a syringe filled with blue liquid. That didn't look so good.

Gods, I was dying, not being able to do anything.

I couldn't scream, I couldn't punch him in his ass of a face.

He lifted the syringe. "This, my friends, was developed during the Vietnam war, designed to play with the mind." He smirked at my widened shocked eyes, "All the wounds and pains that the person has experienced through his lifetime, they can experience again and all at once. I'm sad this was put down as illegal, it would have been an excellent torture tool for the military."

Annabeth's eyes went wide. She probably already knew what it was.

I'm surprised she wasn't screaming her lungs out— how could she be so calm? Her eyes were full of anger and fierce intensity instead of fear.

Luke made the chair's back slant down with a pedal. Annabeth's back went down with it.

Luke then leaned closer to Annabeth's face making her breathe harder, "And Percy, I think you've already seen the many scars Annabeth has on her body. I know about the scars from arrows." Luke had a knife and started cutting away her shirt. My breathe became fast, My heart beated more than a million times a second. I hated that his filthy hands were on her.

"knife wounds, bruises, not to mention a gun shot." Luke had her shirt ripped off— exposing her scars and pointed right at her heart on her bare skin, "A gun shot that almost hit her heart."

Luke turned to Annabeth, "Didn't you also get captured and tortured by terrorists? I've always wondered what hell they gave you."

Annabeth's eyes were coursing with pure fueled anger, glaring giant holes in Luke. If looks could kill, she would have killed armies with her eyes.

Luke turned to me, his eyes twinkling with crazed insanity, "She's going to have a hell of a time, Perce." The syringe was right on the side of her neck. Beads of sweat decorated her forehead. I felt my heart was being pulled out and torn from my chest.

Muffled screams came from my mouth.

It was a pure nightmare.

The syringe went in and Ananbeth's grey eyes shot open wide.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Annabeth's POV

Pain. I had been trained my whole life to control it, be immune to it. All my life.

I always thought I knew what pain was.

I mean without it, we would die.

People used it to get what they wanted.

It was used as a controlling factor. It was an innate part of our lives.

I thought I knew what pain was.

I didn't.

I don't think anybody does. Is it the pain that makes your blood curdle and nerves burn on end.

That's what I thought it was.

Until, Luke injected the needle into my neck.

I wouldn't know how to explain this well in words, because no words could describe the amount of pain that was coursing through every part of my body.

I felt all my wounds of my past, flood me in an entourage.

It was excruciating— truly excruciating.

And through that I tried so hard to keep my mouth shut. I couldn't let Luke get the satisfaction of seeing me scream my lungs out— though I wanted to so badly.

It was like I remembered the feeling of every cut and stab I had gotten from years of endless training. My body was ball of tension, tense enough that I felt I could snap in half in a minute.

My fists were balled and I could feel blood dripping from the place my nails bit into my skin. Sweat dripped from my forehead and I couldn't help but let hot tears fall down my face.

Nerve burning pains flashed rapidly throughout every muscle every tendon every fiber of my body.

To put it lightly— I was in hell.

I heard Percy's muffled screams. Luke's exasperated shouts at me, probably angry that I wasn't screaming like he had planned.

And then what seemed like hours of stabs, burns, and brutal hits, I felt a sharp pain pierce through my chest, close to where my heart was. Gods, I didn't think I would have to experience that ever again.

My breathe hitched and I let out a short cry in pain, of which I stopped abruptly by biting my lip hard, until I tasted blood.

Luke had been right about the shot. It had happened when me and Luke were on a mission.

A terrorist had me held fast in front of him. His chest was to my back.

I still had a gun in my hand, but of course, I couldn't turn around and shoot him quickly enough. He had a gun to my head.

Luke had a gun pointed at the guy's head, but he was forced to lower it.

And that's when I quickly brought the gun to my chest and shot through myself, shooting the heart of the guy behind me, square.

It was a spur of the moment decision and boy did I pay for it. Gun shots in the movies are paper cuts compared to real world shots.

The pain is unbearable. I can tell you that.

My heart almost failed and I almost died.

Overall, it was a fun mission— just kidding.

Unlike now, Luke was actually not a crazed psycho bastard then.

Anyways, back to the present.

Just when I thought the gun shot wound memory was weakening to a dull throbbing, electric shocks coursed and pierced my nerves.

That's when I screamed.

I tried to make myself believe that all of this was just my mind playing tricks on me, but it's sort of hard when you're being electrocuted— sorry, feeling like your electrocuted.

The terrorist's torture.

The electric chair. I hated that stupid chair. Who the f #$ invented the stupid electric chair I hated it.

It was the worst kind of torture there was. It wasn't the twisting feeling of getting stabbed.

Being electrocuted is gut wrenching. It feels literally like your nerves are being burned up alive. The human body has nerves running throughout the whole body—so, I think you can do the logic.

Ugh, screw me, why did I have to get captured by terrorists. I'm such a dumbass.

I thought about what was coming next and grimaced.

In the second there was no electric shocks I opened my eyes frantically and looked at Percy. My breathe heaved and my eyes were blurring. His enraged eyes met mine. I must have looked pretty terrible, because he had a great look of concern, a look that I had never seen anybody give me ever.

And then I felt it.

My back arched to the torturesome, slow pushing of a long sword through my lower left abdomen. It was a act of torture, supposedly, from those cursed terrorists, when I f%$#ing got captured.

I'm pretty sure you know slow is more painful and let me tell you— they were pushing the sword in like a snail.

I couldn't help but scream my lungs out again.

These were the worst pains of my lifetime coming back to me.

Who knew I was going to experience each one, again?

The sword was pulled out and I yelped again, wincing.

I heard sirens. What?

I heard shouts, kicks shuffles. I didn't have the energy to open my eyes.

I couldn't.

I heard gun shots.

Then I felt my cuffs release and warm hands wrap around me.

I still felt cuts and punches and kicks to my gut, but comfort overwhelmed me being in this person's arms.

I slightly opened my eyes to see his sea green eyes on mine full of the deepest concern that a person could give out.

"Percy." I breathed before, my head slumped and I passed out.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Percy's POV

You must be wondering how I didn't die being held there, forced to watch the love of my life tortured ruthlessly in front of me, having to deal with all the pains of her lifetime.

Well, I guess, by some great miracle I did, though I certainly felt like dying.

It was torture for me as well. The purest of tortures— watching her suffer terribly, screaming bloodcurdling screams— and not being able to do anything about it.

I watched as her body tense like she had been shot, I watched as her body convulsed and shook like she was being electrocuted and I watched as her back arched and her screams filled my ears, making me shiver down my spine. It was like I was watching these scenes of her pain over and over.

When she looked for a moment in my eyes, her usual sparkling grey eyes were glazed with a cloud layer, exhausted with the pain.

It was pure torture, pure pain.

It was then that I realized. I still had my phone in my pocket. I had sneaked my cell inside the military base, without getting noticed when I first walked in.

They confiscated any cell phones, but I had my ways. And Luke didn't know I had a cell.

All I had to do was get it out of my pocket though.

The giants men had bound my hands together with a tight rope. It was pretty tight but I managed to bring my bound hands together and slid the pocket out of my pocket.

I'm grateful for the many times I had to sneak my phone during class in high school, I was an expert at texting without looking.

Luke was grinning widely, satisfied with the hell Annabeth was going through.

I had to hurry, but I sent a message to the my first emergency contact— AKA my father.

I wrote: "Help"

I knew my dad had his ways of tracking the source and where I was from a text.

Within minutes, the door to this room, Luke had us in was breached. FBI were everywhere and the lights were turned all the way on. I saw that we were in a hotel room.

Luke's face was shocked and contorted with anger, "You can't arrest me."

"Luke Castellan, you are arrested for uncertified torturing and ownership of illegal drugs and capturing."

Luke wouldn't back down, he took out his gun and pointed it at them, shooting a policeman down on sight. The FBI with their guns trained had no choice but to shoot him down. He was killing at will and there was no way to stop him.

Luke collapsed to the floor, a puddle of blood forming around him.

I ran to Annabeth, after they had taken off the duck tape and cut the ropes around my wrists,and uncuffed her wrists. I held her trembling body to me, instantly feeling relived having my arms protectively around her. Her body was still convulsing with pain, I could feel it.

She looked up at me with half lidded eyes and only said my name softly before passing out completely.

My father was there too. He looked more like a billionaire with his cleanly shaven shin and suit on.

"Son" He said after clasping me on the back, "I would take her to the emergency room, quickly."

Soon we were riding an ambulance and before I knew it they were bringing her through the doors of the hospital.

I was asked to wait in the waiting room.

F$# that. But of course, I really didn't have much of a choice.

The minute she left my arms, I felt empty.

But I waited and waited, torturous hours.

I heard her screams, they were extracting the drug liquid from her system. I'm going to kill the guy who ever invented this drug. Though he's probably dead, seeing as how it was made during the Vietnam War.

My eyelids were slowly drooping down. I was exhausted.

She was probably even more exhausted.

I couldn't even imagine what kind of pain she had gone through and having to live through it again all at once.

My father gladly waited with me.

"What's ner name? She looks familiar." Dad said.

"Annabeth. Annabeth Chase." I said.

His eyes widened in disbelief, "Chase?" He looked lost in thought.

"What dad? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just. Nothing. Are you two together?"

"Well, yeah, we are."

"Percy, I know you two have been through a lot and what I'm about to say to you is something you probably don't want to hear right now, but, you can't be with her, son. Believe me, you can't."

"What?" I looked at him incredulously, "Why are you saying this, Dad? and seriously now?"

"I know, but you can't be with her."

"You haven't had a single interest in my love life so far, unless it had something to do with your business and you choose now to care? Why the f$# are you against it, when I finally have something that makes me happy in life. Truly happy."

"Percy, I—" He was interrupted by the doctor who came to us.

I stood up quickly and walked up to him.

The doctor spoke, "Annabeth's body is strong and young so she will be fine." I sighed in relief and felt a weight lift from my shoulders.

"We got all of the drug out of her system, but this is a drug that we don't know the full affects of yet, so we'll keep her here for a couple more days before she can leave. She can't put a whole lot of work and tension on her body— such as fighting and working out. It would be too much of a strain for her, meaning she has to keep it nice and easy."

Her turned to my father, "Are you her guardian?"

"Uh no, he's my dad, her father's coming soon." I said.

"You her boyfriend?"

"Yeah" I said, it felt good to finally admit it.

"You can go see her." The doctor said.

I nodded and left without turning to my dad.

She was on her side, in a pretty comfortable position that hospital patients usually weren't in. I chuckled and sat by her bed, looking at her gorgeous face.

She would grimace and her brows would come together, furrowed, sometimes.

I wonder what she was dreaming about.

I leaned over and lightly kissed her forehead. A slight smile raised on her lips.

I smiled sadly, looking at her, remembering how much pain she was in. I started to play with her curls, feeling the fine softness of it through my fingers.

I don't know when but I fell asleep.

I woke up feeling fingers playing through the messy curls on my head. It felt nice and I looked up to see Annabeth, with her eyes open and awake. She looked exhausted still, but her eyes had their sparkle back and that was enough for me.

I reached up and caressed her cheek.

"How are you feeling?" I said in a husky low voice, still a bit groggy.

She smiled, "Better. A lot better."

It felt nice to see her beautiful smile.

"I was so worried." I said, showing my concern through my eyes.

"I think you've pretty much shown that."

I chuckled, "But seriously, it seemed like you knew what the drug could do before, when Luke said what it was."

"I read about it somewhere. It's called the Repetus Daea, bringing about the all the pains you've dealt with in the past. Some were so crazed by the pains they experienced, so they committed suicide. Others got nightmares frequently feeling the pain all over again, in their dreams. It was the worst kind of torture invented in the history of wartime. The effects were so bad, they got rid of every drug made. Obviously, they didn't get rid of all of it. I've seen videos. The victims scream for hours and hours on end, without stopping."

I held her hand and pressed it to my lips, "How the hell did you keep silent for so long in the beginning?"

"Trust me, I just didn't want Luke to get the satisfaction of seeing me in pain. So I kept it in as long as I could. But then it became impossible."

My brows furrowed, I slipped my fingers underneath the sheets and went underneath the hem of her hospital gown. I traced the scar that was imprinted on her lower left abdomen. She gasped slightly, then calmed down at my touch.

"How the hell did you get yourself tortured so badly?"

"I'll take that as a rhetoric question and not answer."

I gave her a concerned expression.

Her hand left my hair and met my cheek,

"Don't worry, my dad got me out safely. It was a successful mission."

I must admit this distracted me enough to drop the topic.

She was leaning in and I smiled as she pressed her lips on mine. Her lips were feverish. I was thinking to pull away and feel her forehead to make sure she was okay, but the feel of her lips on mine was very effective in overwhelming my other senses.

Her father suddenly came in.

We pulled away reluctantly from each other.

After getting over the awkwardness he walked up to Annabeth and hugged her.

"Hey Dad."

"Hey Annie Girl. How you doing?"

"Good. Fine."

The general turned to me, "I'm greatly indebted to you."

"No sir, I didn't do anything."

"You took action quickly in a situation that was dire. I promoted you well."

"Thank you sir."

He looked at both of us and turned back to me, "Percy, I guess your dad told you that you and Annabeth couldn't be together?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?" I said,

"What? Why would he say that?" Ananbeth asked.

"I need to tell you guys something that me and your father, Percy, should have told you a long time ago. It concerns why I told you to break up with Luke, Annabeth, that one time. And also why Poseidon, Percy's father never told you about his military days." He said turning to Annabeth and then to me.

"Now, I'm really interested." Annabeth said.

"Me too." I said.

"Well, to put it simply, I had an affair with your mother, Percy."

"What?!" I said.

Annabeth went quiet and was silent.

She and I knew this wasn't going to be great news.

"Yes, your father was furious, but he couldn't do anything, because your mother got pregnant."

My mouth gaped open.

"ME AND PERCY SHARE A SIBLING?!" Annabeth asked, more like shouted.

"I'm sorry I kept this from you two, but yes, it's true— or it was true."

Annabeth's eyes widened she slumped back, she, being smarter, seemed to get something that I didn't.

"Oh my god." Annabeth said quietly.

The general looked sadly into my eyes, "The brother you two share is dead, Percy. Sadly he had to, he was too out of it. I was pained to banish him, but he broke the rules. I couldn't go against rules as general. Now I regret not giving him more of my love as a father."

I shook my head through it all. It couldn't be.

But I knew the truth before the general even spoke again.

"Your half brother was Luke, Percy."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Percy's POV

It has been a month since the general dropped the news on both of us. Annabeth handled it better than I did. But I soon learned to forgive my parent's actions.

Annabeth found it weird that she had been dating both of her half brothers, but she got over it.

Even if Luke were still alive, I would still want her, I would still love her.

The news just made everything make sense.

Annabeth was discharged two days later. Her father allowed her to resign her position as Lieutenant and study architecture in the top school of the nation— Olympus University. The best thing was that it was in Manhattan, so she was right there where I lived. I had resigned as well. My father figured I had served my country well and had learned responsibility and blah blah blah.

My friends decided to stay at the base longer. They actually enjoyed it there. Jason especially— I think you already know why (their love story is a story in itself). All of them eventually got promoted to lieutenant position.

Later Jason was promoted to Corporal status which was awesome.

Anyways, I work at my father's company now. A billionaire's business.

I got to say— it's pretty nice. I get respect from my employees and get to see Annabeth whenever I want.

We were a happy couple. We argued a ton and visited the base sometimes, ordering around soldiers even though we weren't lieutenants anymore— they obeyed us anyway.

It took her a while to get used to the city. I mean, heck, she had been living at that base almost her whole life.

She loved the bar— because she could beat guys up and excuse herself for being drunk. We were both twenty one so we were legal to drink.

There was never a dull moment with her around.

I took her clubbing once. All the girls would envy her perfect model bod and natural gorgeous beauty. All the guys would flounder after her like little mice.

But I didn't have to worry because one cold death glare with her grey eyes and they would back away quickly.

I would laugh and wrap my arm around her waist, repeating over and over that I loved her— like the romantic I was.

She immediately loved New York. Being the wise girl she was, she instantly knew every street and alleyway of Manhattan. Places even I didn't know.

Walking down the streets she would turn heads. I mean she looked like a normal college student on the outside with her blueprints in hand, but an aura of brilliance was always about her— a natural intelligent beauty.

I usually stayed at her apartment. She would make the best blue pancakes ever.

I told her blue dye made everything taste better, which I knew she didn't believe one bit, but she put it in anyways.

Of course, there were those troubling times when she would bolt up screaming from a nightmare, in the middle of the night. But I was always there to comfort her and soothe her with my words and kisses.

I always managed to calm her down.

For once in my whole life I was truly happy.

On one of my breaks from work, I drove over to Annabeth's college campus.

It was a pretty huge campus. They had a great quad and a huge football stadium.

I walked around and saw that the classrooms had big windows that let people observe what was going on form the outside.

Sitting on the bench outside, I looked into the classroom in front of me, waiting for Annabeth.

I saw her through the window, sitting in the back of the classroom. The rows of desks were slanted downwards until it met the front desk where the professor was lecturing.

She had her golden soft hair in a high ponytail. Her curls swaying whenever she moved her head. A few strands escapes the band and framed her face.

She was wearing absolutely adorable glasses, which framed her grey eyes— making them more startling.

How incredibly cute she could be when she wanted to.

Textbooks were set out in front of her.

Her pearly whites were biting the tip of her pen making me focus on her sexy pink soft lips of which I knew to be so mind-blowingly blissful when locked on mine. Her hand was scribbling down a few notes— less than everybody else was, since she probably knew most of the lecture.

She took the pen out of her mouth and placed it in the top crook of her ear, then bit her lip.

Yup, I enjoyed watching her study. She always looked incredibly mesmerizing, studying.

Her grey eyes wandered from the lecture, which btw looked really boring, and looked out the window. Her grey eyes locked on mine.

I grinned from ear to ear and waved once with my hand.

A bright smile played on her soft lips— which I wanted to kiss immediately and her eyes sparkled brightly.

The school bell finally rang and she walked out of the classroom with her brown shoulder purse and books in her arm. She walked out of the classroom in a simple H & M white v neck that had graphic design of the city on it, tucked into a cute plaid skirt which she wore with some white vans.

She could look gorgeous in dresses and in combat pants. Either way, I loved her.

Annabeth came up to me when she saw me and slipped her arms around my neck after dropping her books down on the bench behind me, earning us some looks from other students. The guys looked disappointed to see that this girl was already taken.

Yeah bitches, better stay away.

She smelled of fresh lemons, which comforted me immediately. My hands went to the small of her back, pulling her closer to me.

I kissed her neck and she sighed in my embrace as I pulled away and looked into her eyes bringing my hands up to cradle her face.

I turned around and picked up her starbucks coffee that I picked on the way.

"Hazelnut cappuccino with extra cream, just how you like it."

"Oh why thank you. You're such a gentleman." She said smiling widely.

I chuckled as she drank her coffee.

"How was your class?"

"Amazing. We learned about—" She went on and on about architecture.

I just pretended to listen watching her beautiful lips form words as we walked over to my car.

We got in the car and I kissed her full on the lips, shutting her up. She pulled away for a bit and said, "You weren't listening to anything I just said, didn't you."

"Oh psh, of course I was." I said smiling. I leaned back into the kiss and she this time complied.

We both smiled into the kiss and she lightly bit my lip before pulling away again.

"Go, do your driving." She said with a smirk

"Yes ma'am."

We drove to the beach, our favorite place to be. We sang like dorks loudly to our favorite songs. She stuffed nutter butter cookies into my mouth while I was driving. And soon she had fallen asleep on the way here. I parked then I went over to the other side of the car and gently picked her bridal style from her seat.

I set her on the beach and laid down on the sand, grabbing her slim waist so that she was close to me.

It was a pretty long drive so the stars were in the sky. I watched as I drew with a finger the constellations in the air, connecting the dots.

I felt a hot breathe on my neck, that sent shivers down my spine. I looked down to see golden curls splayed around my chest. The girl looked up and I saw only grey. Sparkly stormy grey shades all in her utterly beautiful eyes. I remembered this exact scene from a dream I once had. But this time her eyes weren't sad, they were sparkling and full of joy and content.

I pointed to the stars, "Wherever I may be, just remember that we're still under the same sky with all the same stars, whether it be seen or hidden."

"You should become a poet, someday." She joked.

I laughed and then

reached up and pretended to grab a star. Then I pretended to have caught in my hand.

She laughed at my act.

I brought my cupped hand to her and opened my fingers.

There in the middle of my palm was a beautiful, but simple diamond ring, slid into a silver necklace.

She gasped, her grey eyes widening.

"I know we're way too young to get married, but I still want you to have something right now. So that whoever sees it will know, that you are a star in my sky."

Her eyes brimmed with tears, "God, Percy, didn't know you could be so romantic."

"I have my moments."

"I love you Percy"

"I love you, Annabeth Chase."


End file.
